Happy Birthday Aquila
by N. Forest
Summary: Sequel to 'Children and Weddings' and side story to 'Harry and his New Family'. Narcissa and Remus' daughter is born and her welcoming ceremony is held. But nothing can ever occur normally in the Lupin-Malfoy-Black household. Especially on the full moon.
1. Birth

**Disclaimer: **JKR owns everything. Not I.

_Author's Note: I attended and aided with the births of my three brothers and that's where the information about births in this chapter comes from. If I've made any grievous errors, just tell me and I'll fix them._

_This story is a sequel to Children and Weddings and is a side story to Harry and his New Family. If you don't read those, you probably shouldn't be reading this one._

Chapter One - Birth

"Is everything ready?" Remus asked his wife as they made their way into the room down the hall from the master bedroom. It was right next to a large bathroom and had been set up for one specific purpose. The birth of Aquila.

Draco was following along behind and picking up everything as it got dropped. Remus' hands were very full and Narcissa was rather occupied with her contractions to carry much of anything. "I think we've got it all. Healer Smith is on the way and I floo'd Midwife Burkely too." Remus said.

Narcissa's smiled and nodded. "Good. Ah." Her eyes went wide and her hand flew to her stomach.

"Contraction?" Remus asked, walking slightly faster when his wife nodded. "Draco, run ahead and drop off the things you're carrying. Then go down and meet the Healers. They'll need someone to show them the way when they arrive. You can also grab the birth applications from my desk if you've got an extra moment."

Draco nodded and hurried off to do as he had been instructed.

The two adults finally arrived in the room and Remus led Narcissa into the connected bathroom, turning on the water in the tub. "I'll get the herbal bath ready. Do you want to change into something more comfortable?"

Narcissa nodded slowly. "I'll wait for you. I would actually appreciate the help changing. Although usually your sense of fashion hurts my eyes."

Remus smiled and gave a light laugh. "Right, right. Well, you picked out the birthing robe. I'll just help you put it on."

Both had agreed on having a home birth. Narcissa had a home birth for Draco and had found a midwife she really liked. Remus remembered the advice his mother had given him back when he'd first started to court girls. Never argue with a pregnant woman, just do what she says and don't get her pregnant again if you can't handle it.

Finally the tub was full enough and he turned off the spout, pouring in the herbal mixture for after the birth. He then helped Narcissa into the birthing room and helped her into the soft, comfortable, very loose robe she'd selected to wear during the birth.

"Do you want to sit down?" He asked, looking over all of their supplies. There were towels and clothes, various potions and kettles that warmed water nearly instantly. Chairs and a bed sat in various sections of the room. The direction the birth took was really up to Narcissa, not the healers.

"No." Narcissa shook her head. "I want to walk around. Just let me have some time."

Remus nodded and fled to one of the chairs, hoping the one of the Healers arrived soon and helped him out. He'd never attended a birth and wasn't sure exactly what should and shouldn't be helping other than the basics.

Finally, as Narcissa completed her fortieth circle of the room, there was a gentle knock on the door. It opened at her command and a greying woman dressed in deep blue robes entered, placing a burlap sack off to the side. She smelled of dried herbs and flowers and her grey hair was braided neatly in a very long braid down her back.

"Narcissa, how nice to see you again!" She cried, coming into the room and embracing the other woman carefully.

Narcissa smiled. "Maggie. I'm glad you could make it."

The midwife laughed. "Wouldn't miss it for the world!" She opened her sack and pulled out an odd looking wooden tool. It had a large, round surface on one end, got smaller in the middle and opened up to a slightly smaller round surface on the other. "Mind if I listen?" She motioned towards Narcissa's belly.

"Not at all."

Midwife and Healer Maggie Burkely listened carefully to the sounds coming from Narcissa's womb. Everything sounded as if it were occurring as it should and she smiled happily. "All sounds good, looks good too." She glanced over at Remus. "You ready?"

Remus nodded. "I'll be busy once the sun goes down. It's unavoidable."

The midwife approached him. "Now listen hear, your wife is going to be having a baby. Your baby! I'm going to need you here. Just to help out, getting things and the like. But more importantly, she's going to need you. Emotionally and physically. You had better change your plans!" By the end she was becoming rather fierce and her tone was rather harsh and her voice loud.

Narcissa put a hand on her arm. "Really it's fine."

"No!" The midwife turned back to Remus. "Change your plans. It's an amazing experience and births can take a while."

Remus looked down for a moment before looking back directly at the midwife. "I'm a werewolf. Tonight is the full moon. There's nothing that can change that." Part of him, the wolf part, wanted to roar at Narcissa for not telling the midwife and putting him in such an awkward position, and his human side wanted to gorge out whatever it was that made him a werewolf so that he could stay here on this most important night.

"Ah." Maggie didn't say anything else. There really wasn't anything she could say. Although this bit of information did bring a very important concern to the forefront of her mind, "Remus, do happen to know if your condition has been transferred to your child?"

Narcissa answered the question. "Yes. I took the potion. It makes the change not happen to the baby and Healer Smith is coming. There's a potion Aquila can take and it will make her not a werewolf."

Maggie nodded. "Healer Smith is coming? I thought you wanted a home birth with-"

"Hello Maggie." The door opened and Healer James Smith stepped in. His warm voice and the calmness he radiated helped to dispel the negative feelings and awkward atmosphere in the room. "Remus, Narcissa."

He strode across the room, placing his kit and supplies on the neatly made bed. "Narcissa, how are you doing?"

Remus stepped into the hallway and summoned his record book. It had all the times that he was scheduled to change written into it. He would need at least five minutes to get down into the basement, change, get into his cage and lock it. And there wasn't much time left at all.

James had one hand on Narcissa's stomach and the other on her chest, scanning something. Remus rubbed his eyes. Now that his change was so close he could see the stream of magic James was pouring into his wife. It was rather disturbing.

She could feel something. Narcissa took a deep breath. The magic James was pouring into her was very relaxing and something told her that this birth would be much easier than Draco's. But she wished that Remus could have stayed with her the way Lucius had. Still there was something dear to her very near. She reached out a hand and smiled with her eyes closed when Remus grasped it tightly.

Remus ran his lips gently over his wife's knuckles and whispered an apology. "I've got to leave now." He said sadly. It took nearly all of his strength to let go of his wife's hand and walk from the room knowing what he was missing.

Draco was standing outside the door holding one of his school books and Remus walked right into him. "Whoa, Draco." He grabbed the boy's elbows to stop him from falling over. "Sorry about that." He looked at the boy and the school supplies in his hands. "I'm sure they'll call if you're needed. Why don't you go work in your room?"

"Fine, fine." Draco clutched his books to his chest and headed down the hall in front of Remus. He'd gotten permission from Professor Dumbledore to come home right after classes and stay home for two days. As long as he kept up with his school work and stayed on top of the assignments. He was trying to do most of them tonight so he could play with his sister after she was born. No one had really explained to him that newborn babies don't play the same as babies that are a few months old, and Draco had never seen a newborn.

Remus hurried down to the basement. He'd taken his wolfsbane potion, but there was always a chance that it wasn't going to work and he didn't want anyone, including himself, to get hurt or have to hurt anyone. The time began to run out as he increased his speed to a run and sped down the stairs.

The cage door was open and Remus quickly pulled off the nice robes he was wearing and jumped towards the cage, not taking the time to change into the clothing he usually wore as a werewolf to stop any embarrassment when he changed back. But he was already to late.

Halfway through his jump to the cage he fell to the floor, shaking and convulsing as wolf began to burst out of his body along with his tail. His face and body morphed and within moments he was climbing to his four feet and sniffing around the room. The door was open and he knew exactly where he wanted to go.

There was a whimpering sound at the door. Maggie was busy helping Narcissa and making sure that everything was proceeding properly. As much as he hated thinking it, James Smith was rather bored. He'd only been called in to administer the first does of the potion that should hopefully stop Aquila from becoming a werewolf. Other than that, there was nothing that he could do that Maggie couldn't. He didn't really need to be here. His mind was beginning to wander and pushing the door open seemed automatic.

A wolf burst through the open door and rushed towards the two women in the middle of the room. James staggered into the wall. The wolf had hit him with one of his powerful legs in his first bound across the room. He hurried to recover and pull out his wand, hoping he could stop the wolf before it did any damage.

But there was no need for his worry. Narcissa reached a hand towards the wolf who stopped and smelled her fingers before rubbing his hand against them as if begging to be petted. Maggie shook her head, but a small smile was playing on her lips.

"Remus, is that you?" Maggie asked, and when the wolf moved his head up and down in an odd nod she motioned off to Narcissa's right side. "You can lie or sit over there if you'd like. Just try not to cause too many problems."

The wolf moved over to the position Maggie had indicated and rubbed his large, wet nose against the side of Narcissa's face before curling up against her and putting a large, delicate paw on top of her hand and sighing happily. Now he could rest in comfort.

The birthing process wasn't as difficult as Narcissa had remembered and was expecting it to be. It certainly wasn't the most pleasant thing she'd ever done in her life. But it wasn't the worst either. And once Aquila was in her arms it was all worth it.

But it was all over far too quickly. James took Aquila from her and placed the newborn on the bed, casting various spells and administering potions to the baby while Maggie helped her deliver the afterbirth and Remus paced about the room. He wanted to help, do something, anything!

Finally both Healers had finished with their respective tasks. Maggie cast a few quick cleaning charms over Narcissa and James cleaned out Aquila's eyes and nose for the final time before handing her back to her mother.

"Would you like to get in the bath?" Maggie asked, after dismissing James. The Healer wasn't needed any more. All the official part of the birth was over. She could sign the birth certification and take care of the newest member of the family.

Narcissa nodded. "I think I'll need some help." She tried to stand up and groaned loudly. "Ooh, that's painfully sore."

Maggie nodded. "There's herbs in the bath that will help with that. Come on now, you can do it." She slipped one of her arms around Narcissa and held Aquila tightly with the other. Slowly they moved across the room and into the bath, Remus on their heels. Maggie put Aquila down on a folded blanket far enough away from the bath that she couldn't get hurt and turned all of her attention to Narcissa.

The water had been charmed to stay warm and it felt wonderful as Narcissa slipped into it. The herbs released calming smells and gentle fumes that played about the small room. She sighed in relief and accepted Aquila from Maggie. The tiny girl was fussing, starting to cry a bit.

Narcissa looked at the babe in her arms and back up at Maggie. "Is she suppose to be this quiet? Draco cried an awful lot when he was born." She could feel worry stirring in her heart. _Maybe the lycanthropy has changed her more than we thought?_

Maggie simply smiled. "Look at her eyes."

Aquila returned her mother's look. Her eyes were dark and seemed to draw you in. Her face was still now and very serious as if she were an older child, rather than a newborn infant.

"Those aren't just any eyes." Maggie whispered. "They're a sign. An omen of greatness and power. Aquila will be a very interesting child."

Narcissa smiled. "She certainly will be."

Remus gave a quiet bark in agreement and edged closer to the water, letting one of his paws dangle over the side of the tub. The tub was indented in the floor of the room. You could just walk right into it, no climbing in required. The out part was harder.

"Just one last thing before I leave." The midwife said, glancing at a clock on the wall of the bathroom. The night was nearly over and she wanted to give Remus privacy for his change. And she was exhausted and still had a long day of work ahead of her. "What would you like her name to be? Her full name?"

Narcissa looked over at Remus. He still couldn't talk and she wanted a sign that he would be all right with whatever name she choose for their child.

Remus came a small whine and reached out his nose to rub against her arm. He pulled his lips back from his teeth, not to try and look threatening, but to smile and let Narcissa know that he trusted her and whatever happened would be fine with him.

"Aquila Andromeda Black Lupin. But don't hyphenate the last name. She'll still be a Black, but it will be Lupin that the world knows her as." Narcissa kissed her child's forehead gently. "My thanks Maggie."


	2. Welcome

**Disclaimer: **JKR owns everything. Not I.

_Author's Note : There will be a sequel to this story at some point. Thanks to Xandra for betaing!_

_**WARNING: This chapter has a women breastfeeding her child.**_

Chapter Two - Welcome

"She's, she's so small!" Draco looked down at his tiny sister. "And she's not so ugly any more." He scrutinized the infant. Now that her red, scrunched up skin had turned pale white and dried a bit, she was, in his opinion, one of the most beautiful infants he'd ever seen. Then his eyes found her's and he was captivated, as everyone else had been. "Wow."

Remus put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "She'll grow. And it will be fast. By the time you come home for the summer, she'll have changed so much. Babies grow quickly."

Draco nodded. "I remember. The Dumbledore-Snape twins went from being babies and kids. Now their big enough to play with."

"Exactly." Narcissa came out from the master bedroom. She was walking rather slowly, compared to her usual clipped pace, but the herbal paths had taken away most of her residual soreness. "I need to feed her again."

Remus saw the look of pain hiding in her eyes. "All right. Come on Aquila, feeding time." He carried his child back into the bedroom and handed her over to her mother, who sighed with relief as soon as the infant began suckling.

"There are charms to deal with this." Remus said softly. "Muggle breast pumps and spells that do the same thing." He gently rubbed his wife's shoulders. "Maybe you should give something like that a try."

Narcissa shook her head. She was smiling broadly now, looking down at the baby at her breast. "I'll be all right within a few weeks. What with potions and you doing so much of the care. I can stand a little too much right now."

Remus shrugged. "Just a suggestion. You do what you think is best. After all, you're the expert here," he said, referring to the fact that she'd already taken care of Draco as a infant.

"We should do the ceremony." Narcissa told him, leaning back to the pillows on the bed. "It is suppose to be done before the baby has seen the moon rise and fall." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We'll do it tonight."

Remus nodded before realising that with her eyes closed, Narcissa couldn't see him. "I'll get things set up. I'll get Draco ready too. Is there anything that you need help with?" He ran his fingers through Narcissa's hair.

Narcissa turned towards him slightly, careful to keep a hand on Aquila so the girl didn't fall off. "Could you lay out my robes? And the clothes for Aquila too?" She opened her eyes and tried to make them big and pleading.

Remus gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Of course my dear. I'll arrange for a priestess too." He opened their wardrobe and pulled out the robes Narcissa had bought so many months ago. The sea green silk for Aquila and the dark green for the rest of them.

"Thank you." Narcissa whispered. "I'm going to take a nap."

Remus nodded his understanding and slipped from the room, taking his own robe with him. He left the robe in his office and threw a pinch of floo powder in the fire before sticking his head in. Twenty minutes later he emerged, covered in soot, but smiling. There would be a priestess to conduct the ceremony. One who wouldn't care that he was a werewolf and Narcissa was pureblood.

Draco ignored the first soft knock on his door. He was doing Transfiguration homework and the concept was proving a bit more difficult than he thought it would be. The next knock was louder. He groaned, putting his head down on his desk. "Come in!"

Remus opened the door and stepped inside his son's room. "Draco, what are you working on?" He was a professor at Hogwarts and felt slightly annoyed that the boy hadn't asked for help before getting frustrated and angry.

"Transfiguration."

Remus smiled, "I'll give you a hand." He took a seat next to Draco and began to help him out. Their relationship had changed an awful lot, since the first night when he'd run off to the Snapes' because of the romance between Remus and his mother.

The two worked together for some time, Remus nearly forgot why he'd bothered Draco in the first place. Finally, the chapter was finished and he sat back in his chair. "Good. With this understanding, your essay should be easy. Now, the welcoming ceremony is going to be held tonight."

Draco nodded. "I figured." He motioned to his bed where his robes were laying out. "Do we need to do the ritual bath?"

Remus nodded. "The herb mix should be in one of the cabinets downstairs. I've never used the ritual bath here."

"It's kind of obvious." Draco stood up and stretched his back before continuing. "Grab your robes and I'll show where to go." He picked up his own robes and followed Remus to the door and then to his office.

"Great." Draco spun on his heel and lead Remus up staircase after staircase.

_I never would have guessed that the __manor__ has so many floors. _Remus thought as he puffed along behind Draco. He had never been past the fourth floor of the building, and unless he'd lost count, they were on the eighth or ninth floor now.

"Here it is." Draco stopped and flung open the door to a room on their left. The two stepped in and were immediately assaulted by the smell of herbs and clouds of warm steam. "This is the Malfoy ritual bath room."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "An entire room? We always just used our bathtub."

Draco shook his head. "Ritual is very serious in the stricter pureblood houses. Come on." He lead Remus through the tile covered walls. "That side is for girls." He pointed to the right. "Here."

Before them were a series of hallways, each one ending in white clouds of steam. Remus took a moment and came up with seven different doors. _Who has seven ritual bath rooms just for men? The Malfoys don't have that many people in their families._

"I'm turning down the steam so we'll be able to see." Draco pressed the wall with the palm of his hand and turned the dial that appeared. "I'll take the first one, you can have the second." He motioned to the doors. "All the stuff is already in there."

Remus entered the hallway and found that it ended in a small room with a curtain closed on one side and another that could cover the opening he'd entered from. He took off his robes and put them down the laundry chute, leaving his clean ones on the same stool. Then he pulled open the next curtain, expecting to find a large communal pool to clean in.

Instead there was a small pool, about the size of a muggle hot tub, only it was sunken into the ground and had ladders for getting in and out, it was deep. The water was clean, save for little bits of plants floating in it and small clouds of steam rising here and there.

He slid into the pool, gasping at the heat of it. But the water did feel nice, and it cleaned off all the soot he'd acquired from his floo call. Soon the smell of herbs intensified and Remus dunked himself underwater quickly, fulfilling the requirements of the bath.

The ladder lowered a little bit more and he stepped on to it, but before he could climb, it lifted him up and out of the tub. The water drained and warm air blew through the room, drying him off and flattening his air as it blew at him from the ceiling.

Remus left the room, put on his ritual robe and headed back to the entry to wait fro Draco. And then for the ceremony to begin.

The family was back in the ballroom, the same room where the wedding had taken place. Only this time they were all wearing ritual robes and instead of a ministry officiant at the front of the room, Remus's pack mother, Melinda, stood dressed in the robes of a priestess.

Now she didn't look so sweet and friendly. Her long hair was loose and there was a ceremonial knife in her belt. Behind her was a huge throne made of obsidian. And in her arms was Aquila. "Who bears this child?"

Narcissa took a step forward and sunk to one knee. "I bore this child mother. She is of my flesh and love." She sat back on her leg, looking at the scene before her.

Remus followed his wife's movements and sunk down next to her. "I bore this child mother. She is of my love and of my blood."

Melinda looked down at the adults. "Do you who bear this child bleed for her?" The words were slow, as they were easy to slip up on and then the ceremony was ruined.

Remus and Narcissa rose together. "Mother, we bleed for her." They stepped up onto the dais with Melinda.

Aquila's robe was removed and she was placed on the chair. Melinda picked up three silver pins. The first two she used to prick Narcissa and Remus' wrists. With the third she pricked Aquila just above the navel.

Aquila's eyes widened at the sudden pain. But before she could cry out, her parents knelt down before her and mixed their blood with one hand, while the other one comforted her.

Then Remus and Narcissa stepped away, their wrists already clotting and healing over from the potion rubbed on the silver pin. Narcissa nodded encouragingly to Draco, giving him a smile and resisting the urge to bite her nails.

Draco took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Mother. I did not bear this child. But I love her and bleed for her." He knelt.

"Are you blood kin?"Melinda's voice was powerful and commanding, questioning his right.

Draco took another deep breath. "She is of my mother. I wish to bleed for her."

Melinda beckoned him up and pricked his wrist. "Bleed for your kin and protect her with your love and with your life."

Draco mixed his blood with his sister's and picked her up, handing her over to Melinda.

Melinda raised up the infant. "Aquila Andromeda Black Lupin, you are member of the family and a member of the blood of Lupin, Black, and Malfoy. Long may you bear the title Lady and long may you bear the name of magic."

There was a crack of something a bit like lightening, only it was purple and green and black and white. The sound resonated for a minute or two before disappearing. The ritual robe that had been taken off Aquila burned and then disappeared.

Narcissa hurried forward. The ceremony was over. "Thank you so much!" She took Aquila from the priestess and healed the mark above her navel in an instant. "Poor baby." She rocked Aquila in her arms gently. "Go to sleep my little one, no more ceremonies."

Remus gave Melinda a quick hug. "Thank you. No one at the Ministry would even consider doing this for us." He squeezed her hands and gave a little jump. "I still can't believe I was part of this." He grinned broadly. "Amazing."

Melinda packed up her things, changed from her ceremonial garb to normal robes, and headed for the floo. "Best of luck to you." She called out behind her. "Have a good night!"

Narcissa headed to the door of the ballroom. "I'm going to put Aquila down. She's already falling asleep." She slipped out through the opened door and down the hall, thinking of all the things that she could do now without Aquila.

Remus started to follow his wife, but Draco caught his arm. "Remus, wait for a moment." He let go and looked down, screwing up his courage. "I want to thank you and apologise. I wasn't very nice to you at first and I'm sorry. And I see now that things are different. You're not my father. But your Aquila's and I think you're a good person."

Remus was struck dumb for a moment. He'd always assumed, and been correct in his assumptions for quite a while, that Draco simply tolerated him and saw him as a dirty werewolf. "Draco, I- I don't know what to say."

Draco struck out his tongue. "I thought mum was giving you etiquette lessons. When someone gives you a compliment or apology, you're suppose to say thank you." He smiled impishly to let Remus know he'd been joking.

Remus shook his head. "You'd better not pass this on to your sister. The last thing she needs is a smart mouth. What with three people watching her every move." He laughed quietly. "Thank you Draco."


End file.
